I procrastinated listening to this for a while, but devoured it in less than a week once I started. Ansary reads his work well, the pace is fast enough to prevent sections from dragging, but he manages to fit in enough detail to tell the story. What makes this so interesting is that he is not trying to give a comprehensive, detailed account of history, and in some places, he's not even worried about accuracy, so much as he is trying to tell you the history and the stories that Muslims tell themselves. Well worth the listen.

I found Tamim Ansary approach to helping one understand the Islamic early ideal of moral living very interesting. It makes it clear to understand why western culture know so little of Islamic history. Looking forward to part II.

This book goes a long way to explain the current conflicts - as the author calls them the "intersecting narratives" between the western and Muslim world. It covers a great deal of history of the Muslim world, beginning before Mohammed and bringing us up to its publication date (2009). Mr. Ansary tells it "warts and all" and covers a great deal of time and space as he does so. There aren't many non-fiction books that I wish had been longer, but I wish he had spent more time in India and North Africa - maybe a follow-up? Being Western-centric it was hard not to draw parallels with the development and spread of Christianity, which made the "disruption" stand out very clearly as the East (or the "Middle" as he calls it) and the West diverged. And, oh yes, I have never encountered a history that was written and read in such a very conversational tone. I listened to most of it in the car and it was like he was right there with me - a very welcome guest.

Positively, it's great for someone to put Israel in the right context. The Brits and French simply took over the Ottoman vacuum and basically made Arabs host a bunch of European outcasts, AKA Jews. We are told it is ok because the Jews were promised the land in an ancient book...written by Jews. The details on the crony capitalism and imperialism that basically turned the middle east into a unwilling colony were well explained.

Elegant...Ansary schools the Neocons on Iraq. It would be good if people in decision making roles read this book, 25 years ago or maybe 100 years ago. How much better would the world be if the Brits, French, and Russians decided to respect the sovereignty of Islamic nations after WWI instead of attempting to carve them up for ultimately petty economic gains?

Negatively, Ansary contradicts himself a few times and plays like a partisan several times. It's forgivable because everybody whitewashes their misdeeds. Dead Indians, Guals, Armenians, or Persians are never anybody's fault. The biggest contradiction is Ansary's point that the Middle World needs a bigger place in world history, I agree. But 50% of the book happens between the fall of Rome and the Mongol Holocaust. The rest of the book is about the Turks conquering the Middle East, Turks running the Middle East, and Finally the English and French taking over after the industrial revolution. Therefore, Ansary basically made Arab nations a side-story in a book about Islamic nations.

Other contradictions. Ansary seems to delight in the demise of Byzantium. European Jews took a desert strip and that is described as a modern catastrophe. The Turks took Anatolia (many times larger) from the Greeks, seems ok by Ansary? The Greeks I know would not agree. Ansary says the Middle World ignored Europe. What about the Siege of Vienna I and II? What about the Spanish needing the battle of Tours and a 700 year reconquest to expel Islam from Iberia? What about the Siege of Malta? What about the millions of Poles, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, and Russians kidnapped and sold into slavery by the Tartars and Turks?

Would you consider the audio edition of Destiny Disrupted to be better than the print version?

They should be experienced roughly in unison. Both the written version and the audio need to be experienced with maps in hand, easily available on the internet. I would suggest at least occasionally referring to the text, read a chapter, listen for awhile, etc. This is because the terms used, the names, the places, are not familiar to the western ear, and it helped me to see the terms in print.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Destiny Disrupted?

There were no particular moments that I consider memorable, I couldn't stop listening and reading and will listen again soon. The essential aspect is the overall look at history from the viewpoint of Islam, and not yet another scholarly tome written by a western author who is writing from the western point of view.

Have you listened to any of Tamim Ansary’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Tamim is an excellent narrator, and I appreciate the mild irony and humor he applies to both Islam and Christianity, and the actions of the leaders, from time to time. Not often is it successful that the author narrate his own work, yet I have no criticisms, the narration is great. His other narrations that I have experience with are the West of Kabul, East of NY, and Games Without Rules. I consider these to be Ansary's trilogy, the 3 books through which I have learned the most about Afghanistan/Islam/middle east history.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me sad to realize the inevitability, the power of fanatics of the major religionS to bring the world to the edge of destruction.

Any additional comments?

I approach (my learning of) the area in question as a cluster. I go through the historical novels and the history of the region through as many points of view as possible. I would suggest starting with Destiny Disrupted, then Games without Rules. After that I would read, in no particular order: The Kite Runner, A thousand Splendid Suns (these 2 by Hosseini), Far Pavilions (Kaye), West of Kabul. Next I am going to read "Revenge of Geography", and anything about India, the crusades, Pakistan, Iran, and the Ottoman Empire that I can find. This should keep me busy for awhile! My next audio book is "The Revenge of Geography: What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate". Then, the works of Ahmed Rashid.

I highly recommend the unabridged audio version as presented from a moderate Muslim’s point of view and read by the author, Mr. Tamim Ansary. His excellent narration and accurate pronunciation of people, places and things only increases the listening experience, which may not have been as enjoyable had another, ‘less-adept’ narrator been chosen for the task. That being said, the information contained in this book deals with 1300 years of human history. True, there are plenty of facts but ‘Destiny Disrupted…’ neither falls into that category of boring text book nor is it a dull book of historic facts. ‘Destiny Disrupted…’ is a kaleidoscope of kingdoms, cultures, campaigns and clashes, ranging from those of Europe, Asia Minor, Persia and ‘Middle World’ (a/k/a Middle East to the West), to the distant lands of India and the Far East.

Through Ansary’s eyes we gain an alternative perspective of the Middle World and as he is equally critical of both Western and Muslim prejudices and dogma, he establishes himself as a trustworthy guide and reporter. This book offers a fulfilling overview, striking the perfect balance between summary and detail, objective reporting and critical analysis; while setting contemporary events and world views into historical context. This is the larger picture most westerners need to hear but unfortunately will never know.

This is important and relevant so if you are ready to put aside the traditional western commentary and you are willing to hear the ‘other side’, then you are ready to be enlightened and so this book is for you.

The premise - to tell history through Islamic eyes - is exciting for those of us most familiar with the European-dominated world histories.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Destiny Disrupted?

Addressing the development of Wahabbism, Ansary clearly put the movement in context and names ways it has continued to develop that matter greatly today, but were not obviously part of early teachings.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The story of the development of Sufism and the initial response of rulers to try and crush it.

I have a feeling that many westerners whom come across this title will not even give it a second thought. It will be their loss. While one could forgive the casual shopper for looking at a book with the dome of a Mosque on the cover and promising "A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes" and assuming that it is an anti-western book of Islamist propaganda.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Maybe there would be less conflict and greater understanding of foreign cultures if all nations wrote their cultural history with such an unbiased assessment of their deeds, crimes, and neglect.

For the record, I was raised in a Catholic house, but converted to Islam four years ago when I met my wife. A woman whom changed my life completely. I have always loved to learn about history, and suddenly having to submit myself to mandates of a culture that I had never understood, and one that is so maligned in popular culture left me with many questions, and no answers at all.

My wife was little help in answering my questions, because she had never had the need to ask them herself. And, for reasons that become clear in this book, many Muslims are largely ignorant of their own cultural significance in world history.

My wife is a Sunni Muslim, and so far I have resisted taking sides in a sectarian divide that I didn't even understand. Thanks to this book, I now know what it is that a Shi'a Muslim believes. However, understanding the differences in a fair and balanced manner, makes it much less likely that I will ever take sides in that conflict.

Tamim Ansary dedicates a large portion of this book to the development of Islamic society through the revelations to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and the subsequent rulers of Islam, both religious scholars, and the leaders of the empires. And it is spellbinding. It becomes clear just how the Islamic world authored its own fragmentation throughout history, and how that fragmentation of society made the Middle World easy for invading armies to exploit.

I won't give spoilers, but I was shocked to discover that my own understanding of the Middle World (Middle East) was wrong, wrong, wrong. Nobody told me to think these things, but I placed the blame for many of the problems in the Middle World squarely at the feet of Christianity beginning with the Crusades, continuing through colonialism, progressing through puppet dictators, the outrage of Zionist occupation, and resulting in jihadist hatred.

What I found in this book was that my beliefs were wrong, if not completely, at least partially, on every single one of those beliefs. Tamim Ansary spreads the blame around equally. If the Muslims acted in a way that brought misfortune upon them, he calls them out for it. At the same time, he does not shy away from talking about the horrors committed by invading forces. And to show that he is not simply making things up, he provides specific sources within the book as well.

I recommend this book to ANYBODY that enjoys history. It won't disappoint.

This was an eye opening listen. I always figured different groups would have different perspectives on history based on their experiences, and this book certainly confirms that. It also gave me new insight on the "conflicts" between Western and Islamic cultures. The reader certainly added to the material presented. It can be a challenge to follow some parts, simply because of my own unfamiliarity with the area's geography, but that cleared up when I consulted a map.